University College Distinguished Alumni
Congratulations to the 2007 University College Distinguished Alumni. The distinguished Alumni Awards honor alumni and friends who exemplify the ideals of leadership, scholarship, and service as embodied in the educational mission of University College. Recipients have attained distinction in their professional careers and have demonstrated dedication to their communities and to Washington University. A reception was held in their honor on March 27th, 2007.
M. Patricia Barrett, M.L.A. '95
After a 22-year career at Ameren Corporation, Ms. Barrett was one of the founders of EMD (Experience Makes the Difference) Consulting Group to provide an array of strategic management services to the nonprofit community. Throughout her career, Ms. Barrett has pursued continuing education. She first attended University College in the mid-1960s and later enrolled in advanced programs in Washington University’s law school and business school. Ms. Barrett enrolled in the Master of Liberal Arts Program in 1986, graduating in 1995.
Her long list of accomplishments as a community leader have included chairing the Provident Counseling board of directors, serving as chair and director of the Metropolitan Association for Philanthropy, as a commissioner on the City of Clayton Plan Commission, and national and regional leadership roles with the Coro Leadership Center. She was a board member of the St. Louis Public Schools Foundation from 2000 to 2003, and for six years was a commissioner for the Investigative Learning Center program of the St. Louis Public Schools. In 1996 Ms. Barrett’s volunteer work was honored with a Woman of Achievement award, and in 1991 she was recognized by the YWCA of Metropolitan St. Louis as a community business leader.
Currently, Ms. Barrett serves on Washington University’s National Public Relations Council, and chairs the Dean’s Advisory Board for Arts & Sciences. At St. Louis University, she chairs the Advisory Council for the College of Public Service. She is on the board of directors for The Scholarship Foundation, and the Innsbrook Institute, a music camp for emerging artists. She co-chaired the FOCUS St. Louis “What’s Right with the Region” awards in 2000. She said, “The beauty of living in an academically rich city is the wealth of opportunities available to keep on learning.”
Ronald J. Himes, B.S. '78
Ronald Himes is the Founder and Producing Director of The Saint Louis Black Repertory Company, founded in 1976 while he was still a student at Washington University. He began attending classes at Washington University while still in high school, enrolled in 1970 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from University College in 1978.
The Saint Louis Black Repertory Company is the largest African-American performing arts organization in the United States. Now in its 30th season, it reaches an audience of more than 175,000 annually between its main stage productions, touring shows, and community outreach. “The mission of the company hasn't changed much since its inception,” says Mr. Himes. “It is to heighten the social, cultural, and educational awareness of the community through the performing arts, to provide opportunities for African-Americans to develop, and to showcase their talents.
Mr. Himes has produced and directed more than 100 plays, including August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, and The Black Rep’s own I Remember Harlem II. Himes began acting when two friends dared him to audition for a campus production of No Place to Be Somebody, and his acting credits include starring roles in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil, Sty of the Blind Pig, The Meeting, When The Chickens Came Home to Roost, Boesman and Lena, and I’m Not Rappaport. Other acting credits include The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, several productions with the St. Louis Theatre Project Company, and the MUNY.
Mr. Himes has taught at Washington University since 1987. He received an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the university in 1998. At the present time he is Washington University’s Henry E. Hampton, Jr. Artist-in-Residence.
Lawrence Kahn, H.S. '51
Dr. Kahn earned his B.A. from the University of Alabama in 1941 and his M.D. from the Louisiana State University College of Medicine in 1945. He came to St. Louis for his internship at St. Louis City Hospital. Dr. Kahn served as a house officer at St. Louis Children’s Hospital from 1948 to 1951, spending one of those years as a the Fern Waldman Research Fellow in Pediatrics. He was engaged in private pediatric practice until 1970 when he joined the full-time faculty of the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Kahn retired with the title Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics in 1992, and opened another chapter in his life.
At that time, Henrietta Friedman was organizing a new program at Washington University called the Lifelong Learning Institute. Dr. Kahn helped to organize the Institute, and served as its second chair. The Lifelong Learning Institute has since become an unqualified success. It now has more than 600 active members participating in non-credit enrichment studies in subjects ranging from economics to Broadway musicals.
Dr. Kahn said, “I want to emphasize the importance of the Lifelong Learning Institute. Thanks to Henrietta and the help of Bob Wiltenburg, plus the Chancellor’s support, we have a superb resource that keeps elderly people intellectually stimulated. People of my generation are more active and eager for new challenges than were our parents at the same time in their lives. Certainly this will be true of the Baby Boomers following us. I believe it is an important link between the community and Washington University in St. Louis.”
